ORPHIC FRAGMENT 232
OTTO KERN
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SUMMARY: This fragment states that men will make great offerings to Dionysus, seeking deliverance, for he has great power and is willing to free us from suffering and the wicked legacy we inherited from our ancestors.
232. (208) σχόλιον Ὀλυμπιοδώρου επὶ Φαίδωνος Πλάτωνος Β ιά p. 87, 13 Norv.:
ὅτι ὁ Διόνυσος λύσεώς ἐστιν αἴτιος· διὸ καὶ Λυσεὺς ὁ θεός, καὶ ὁ Ὀρφεύς φησιν·
ἄνθρωποι δὲ τεληέσσας ἑϰατόμβας
πέμψουσιν πάσηισι ἐν ὥραις ἀμφιέτηισιν
ὄργια τ’ ἐκτελέσουσι λύσιν προγόνων ἀθεμίστων
μαιόμενοι· σὺ δὲ τοῖσιν ἔχων κράτος, οὕς κ’ ἐθέληισθα,
λύσεις ἔϰ τε πόνων χαλεπῶν ϰαὶ ἀπείρονος οἴστρου.
“For Diónysos is the cause of deliverance; because not only is this God the Liberator (Λυσεὺς), but also, Orphéfs (Ὀρφεύς) says:
‘Men will conduct perfect hecatombs
in all the seasons of the year,
and will complete mystic orgies, seeking deliverance from the lawless acts of their ancestors.
And you are strong for those you keep, and are willing,
you will deliver them from grievous labors and boundless agony.’ ”
(trans. by the author)
Herm. 509 n. 23; Lobeck I 584; Rohde Psyche II6 128 n. 5; Anrich Das antike Mysterienwesen in seinem Einflusse auf das Christentum 119 n. 3; Tannery Rev. philol. XXIII 1899, 126. XXV 1901, 314; S. Reinach Rev. philol. XXIII 1899, 239 = Cultes, mythes et réligions I 312; Kern Orpheus 46; Latte Arch. Religionsw. XX 1921, 282.
ὕμνος Ὀρφέως 52.2 Τριετηρικοῦ·
ταυρόκερως, Ληναῖε, πυροσπόρε (πυρίσπορε), Νύσιε, Λυσεῦ.
“bull-horned, oh God of the wine-press (Ληναῖος), born of fire, Nysian (the mountains sacred to Diónysos), Deliverer (Λύσιος)”
It is necessary to deliberate (the meaning of the epithet) Διόνυσος Λύσιος, whom the ancients did not properly interpret as the liberator of the prisoners (Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός fr. 101 p. 91 Voss) or:
διὰ τὸ λυτρώσασθαι Θηβαίους παρὰ Ναξίων ἄμπελον (Ἀριστοφάνης Θηβαίους)
“Through having ransomed the Theban grapevine from the Naxions.”
Wentzel Ἐπικλήσεις VII 42. Vs. 3:
λύσις προγόνων ἀθεμίστων
“the deliverance of the unlawful ancestors”
To inquire into the wickedness of the human race, for which the Titans are the founders, it is necessary to refer back to fragments 209 and 220.
In the same way, also, it is necessary to understand the fragment of Pindar in Μένων Πλάτωνος 81 b (133 Schr.):
παλαιὸν πένθος
“the ancient disaster,”
And also (the phrase) from Περὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων μυστηρίων Ιαμβλίχου Χαλκιδέως rec. Parthey 3, 10 p. 121, 11:
λύσεις παλαιῶν μηνιμάτων
“redemptions from ancient guilt”
For προγόνων ἀθεμίστων “unlawful ancestors,” compare ὕμνος Ὀρφέως 37.2 Τιτάνων·
ἡμετέρων πατέρων πρόγονοι
“progenitors of our fathers.”
The story of the birth of the Gods: Orphic Theogony.
We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.
Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.
Introduction to the Thæí (the Gods): The Nature of the Gods.
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We know the various qualities and characteristics of the Gods based on metaphorical stories: Mythology.
Dictionary of terms related to ancient Greek mythology: Glossary of Hellenic Mythology.
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